A 27-year-old Brockton man paid a recent visit to the East Bridgewater police station. But police said he wasn’t in any real trouble until he tried to leave – with a jar of donations he swiped from the lobby, Wicked Local East Bridgewater reported.

Police first received a call from a resident that a man and woman were loitering near her yard, and requested they be picked up and fill out a no-trespassing order.

Neither was arrested, but both were brought back to the station to fill out the proper paperwork, East Bridgewater Officer Mark Harvey said Thursday.The police department surveillance footage tells the rest of the story.

That’s when Joseph Maskell – a man police say has a long criminal record and a known history with drugs – spotted the donation jar of money.Surveillance shows Maskell looked at the jar and at one point spun it around to read the label.

It was a jar placed there to raise money for the community’s DARE program – drug abuse resistance education, which is taught to students at all three East Bridgewater schools.

Maskell appeared to read the label, then chewing on a fingernail, looked toward the door and double checked if any officers were behind the glass.Rubbing his hands together, he then walked to the jar, placed it carefully in the pocket of his sweatshirt and continuing to rub his hands together, headed for the exit.

The move confounded police.

“I mean, I have to beg people for money... and this knucklehead’s just stealing from us,” said Harvey. “It’s pretty low.”

Harvey, who has been with the force eight years, has taught the town’s DARE program for the last five.

It’s a program he describes as “a make-good-decisions class,” comprising lessons on everything from staying away from drugs and alcohol, to safety and anti-bullying.

To fund the program, he sends letters to businesses “begging them” for donations, and relies on others’ charity, he said. The money goes toward supplies like notebooks and drunk goggles, and an ice cream social for sixth-graders.

Harvey said the jar was full, and held an estimated $15-$20 in it when it was stolen. They have not yet gotten it back, police said Thursday.

Maskell, of 138 Norman Road, Brockton, was charged on Sept. 21 with one count of larceny under $250, a misdemeanor. He has been summonsed to appear in court at a later date.